Evil Dead: The Game
By Marc Saltzman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Gruesome, gory and graphic horror best for mature players.
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Evil Dead: The Game
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What’s It About?
One of the most iconic cult horror movies in recent memory gets a faithful video game treatment in EVIL DEAD: THE GAME. As you might expect from such a title directly tied to Sam Raimi's gory film franchise, led by the original 1981 slasher flick, Evil Dead: The Game has you player as a "Survivor" (humans) or "Kandarian Demons" (zombies) in a multiplayer-centric online action game of kill or be killed.You'll play as more than 20 authentically-recreated characters from throughout the Evil Dead universe, including Ash Williams, Scotty, Annie Knowbury, and more, including new dialogue recorded by Bruce Campbell (Ash) and others. Your team of Survivors wield all kinds of over-the-top weapons -- including nailed bats, chainsaws, katanas, meat cleavers and mallets -- while demons can lay traps and portals (from which more enemies spawn), possess Deadites, and find other ways to manipulate the environment to devour human souls. Along with the Survivor vs. Demon multiplayer matches -- juggling between third- and first-person views of the action -- the game also offers a thorough (and mandatory) tutorial, and several single-player missions. While there's no cross-platform support Evil Dead: The Game is playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS4 and PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.
Is It Any Good?
If you're a fan of the campy movie franchise, this is a surprisingly fun and gory game. Plus, those who enjoy similar team-based survival horror action games like Left 4 Dead 2, Dead by Daylight and Back 4 Blood, will no doubt enjoy Evil Dead: The Game. Aside from the deliciously dark ambience of this game, you'll be happy to know there's plenty of variety in your gameplay. Survivors will roam about the large outdoor and indoor spaces (connected by pathways and trees), collecting weapons, ammo and items (like map pieces or Shemp's Cola for health boosts). While you're working together with your group, you'll blast or slash away at the oncoming undead, and work towards activating relics or unlocking new areas. As a Demon, you'll take more of a management role to ensure your hoard is well equipped to attack humans and power up your defenses -- because you're going to need the help (it's challenging to get out of a half-circle of Survivors wielding chainsaws, swords and shotguns). The variety in gameplay (intense combat and eerily quiet times to forage for resources) and relative non-linearity is refreshing.
The single-player missions are also quite tough. While lacking variety, they can help you "sharpen" your skills before taking on skilled opponents online. To add additional strategy, Evil Dead: The Game features four classes and character-specific abilities (though they don't feel too different), skill trees for Survivors and Demons, and earning experience points (XP). Some of the balancing issues were tied to the lopsided difficulty between Survivors and Kandarian Demon forces, damage that favors guns over melee attacks, and issues with the Support class -- but this could be fixed with patches, no doubt. At least the extreme gore is balanced with sardonic humor (including fresh one-liners from Ash). Overall, Evil Dead: The Game is a bloody good time for you and your horror film-loving friends.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Evil Dead: The Game affected by the extreme gore featured in gameplay? Is it to be expected -- and appropriate -- because of the movie tie in? Would the gameplay be different if it didn't have realistic blood and gore?
How well do you think the content of movies transfers over to video games? Would it be easier to take a larger game experience and distill it into a movie instead?
Game Details
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid ($39.99)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Saber Interactive
- Release date: May 13, 2022
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Cars and Trucks, Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires, Science and Nature
- ESRB rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity
- Last updated: May 23, 2022
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